US, China Agree on UN Resolution For North Korea

The United States and China have reached a tentative agreement on a draft United Nations Security Council resolution condemning North Korea for its December rocket launch.

U.N. diplomats said Friday that the resolution would not impose new sanctions against Pyongyang, but would call for expanding the existing ones.

U.N. envoys say a draft was expected to reach the 15-nation council quickly and members could vote on it next week.

If adopted, the resolution will represent a compromise.

The United States had wanted to punish North Korea with a new set of international sanctions, but Beijing opposed the measure. China proposed issuing a statement that only calls for expanding the existing U.N. blacklists.

After North Korea's rocket launch in April of last year, the council passed a so-called “presidential statement'' that condemned the move and urged the North Korea sanctions committee to tighten the existing U.N. sanctions regime.

The committee then blacklisted additional North Korean firms and broadened a list of items Pyongyang was banned from importing.

China is the North's closest ally, but it is also concerned about its neighbor's nuclear arms program.